Machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles



' 1,614,444 1927 ,R. s. REID ET AL MACHINE FOR SEWING LEATHER BAGS 0R SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Oct. 15, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 11 1927. 1,614,444

R. G. REID ET AL MACHINE FOR SEWING LEATHER BAGS OH SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed Oct. 15. 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,614,444 Jan. 11 1927. R. G REID ET AL MACHINE FOR SEWING LEATHER BAGS 0R SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed 000. 15, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1,614,444 11 9 'R. G. REID ET AL MACHINE FOR SEWING LEATHER BA GS 0R SIMILAR ARTICLES Patented Jan. 11, 1927.

umrro 'sTATE s' ROBERT Govv REID, i am. BATES,

AND FBED- RICKS, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND,

ASSIGNQRS TQ UNITED SI-IOEMAOHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JER- SEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE ron SEWING Lari-Tam BAGS on SIMILAR ARTICLES.

Application filed October 15, 192-1, serial-No. se'asissjana The present invention relates particularly to apparatus for sewing'the end portions into the body or lid 'of-bags such as attache cases and suit cases,articles usually com- 5 posed of leather or of compressed fibrous material such as leather-board, straw-board, and the like.

The object of the present invention is to provide improved means for performing the 0 sewing operation above referred to whereby better work can be produced with considerable reduction in the amount of skilland manual labor required.

W'ith'this object in view, the present in-' 5 vention consists in combining with the stitclrforming devices or a curved hook needle sewing machine improved forms of work support and guides "hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows, in perspective, a machine according to the invention arranged forthe sewing of bags and like articles;

Figs. 2, 3 and a show various types of forms for internally supporting the work, the latter figure showing a bag supported on the form;

Fig. 5 shows, partly in section, a view, at right angles to Fig. 4, of a portion of bag form as shown in Fig. t but adapted for use with metal framed bags and with a bag thereon;

Fig. 6 shows an extensible bag form endpiece;

Figs. 7 and 8 are detailed sectionalviews of portions of construction of bag forms for use in sewing bag lids and shown with a bag thereon;

Fig. 9 shows, in perspective, a type of sewing machine bag support alternative to that shown on the machine in Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is an elevation oi the same; and

Fig. 11 is a section on the line AA of Fig. 10;

Figs. 12 and 13 are views of an external support for the bag additional to that provided at the sewing point.

For the purposes of explanation, it will be assumed that the operation to be per formed by the apparatus illustrated in the drawings is the'sewing together at theends of the lid or body olf'a suit case or attache case of a sheet or the material which is in Great Britain October 20, 1920.

bent to form the top of the lid or the bottom of the body and the front and back of the lid or; body with two flat sheet-s which form the'ends of the lid or body.

This operation is effected by a lockstitch seam extending along the perpendicularly abutting or mitred edges of the sheet with its stitches lying in a :plane at an angle of about sheets.

As these abutting edges, which usually are merely bast'ed or otherwise temporarily secured together, are struck slantingly by the a-wl and needle (the machine illustrated being-a curved awl, curved hook needle machine of well-known type) they should be supported internally to maintain them in proper relative and absolute position so that when the stitches have been set in the case of perpendicularly abut-ting edges the plane of the raw edge-or edge face o f'the lid or' body portion and the plane ofthe surface of the end portion or sheet sewn thereto will coincide, and in the case of mitred edge work the two mitred'edges will abut properly, and to ensure theline of the seam being at the correct distance from thecdge (and straight) on the respective surfaces.

According to one feature of the invention this resultis attained by providing a form which, introduced into the bag in a collapsed state, is expanded to fill out the bag and support rigidly, and it may be place, theabutting edges'in proper relation for the sewing.

The expansion may occur only in one direct-ion, in which case the desired resuh may be attained by the employment of a structure as shown in Fig. 2 comprising two flat rectangular boards 10 of the internal length of the and as wide as the bag is deep, each hinged at 11 (on an axis extending along and near to the inner widthwise edge of the'end face of the board) to the endo fan end board 12 (ofthe same width asthe others and of a lengthsuficient to place the outer faces of the boards 10 at a distance apart equal to the internal width of the bag) divided centrally and hinged at 13 on an axis parallel to thatoi"; the other hinges so that on-collap's'ing these end boards the structure may be readily introducedinto and'removed from the bag. A

to the planes of the respective strut may be provided, its ends sliding into grooves 14: in opposite boards of the eX- panded form, to lock the form in expanded condition.

Alternatively for some classes of work, a: simple form as shown in Fig. 3 will suffice; in this construction the end boards 15 are rebated at 16 at their ends at a slight angle to the vertical and side boards 17 are used therewith having their ends cut to a corresponding angle. lit will be evident that, the end boards having been placed within a bag, insertion of the side boards with their ends against the rebated portions 16 will force apart the end boards. The side boards 17 may conveniently be made as shown of lesser height than the end boards so that articles that differ slightly in length may be properly expanded by varying the amount by which the side boards are pushed down without the top edge of the latter projecting above the top of the bag body so as to hamper sewing of the bag lid with the latter closed upon the body.

It is preferable, however, that the form be eXp-a'nsible in two directions and further that the expansion and contraction be not only such as to facilitate the introduction of the form into and its removal from the bag but be capable of dealing say with departures of the dimensions of the bag from a reputed dimension or it may be with different sizes of a range.

To deal with this, the form may be constructed as shown in Fig. 1, comprising four units 18 each made up of two fiat rectangular boards of a width equal to the depth of the bag and secured together permanently and rigidly at right angles by the fillets 19 to consitute corner forms, each unit comprising a board somewhat less than half the length of the long side and a board somewhat less than half the length of the short side of the bag, so that the four units appropriately placed together and with their adjacent ends somewhat spaced apart c011 stitute a complete frame-like internal support for the bag.

- Units of this type when placed in the bag may be appropriately expanded simultaneously laterally and longitudinally by an extensible connector joining the central pivots of a pair of toggles each pivoted at one end to the angular corner of one of the units. It is in many cases desirable, in the interests of simplicity and convenience of nesting of. the units for storage to have the units readily separable, and also to avoid complexity of mechanism; and a structure having these properties may be obtained by merely wedging the units apart by strut boards extending across the bag and having wedge formations on their ends which force these apart, it being for instance sufiicient as shown in Fig. at to provide one strut board 20 extending Widthwise of the bag and two short ones 21, 22 extending in line from the middle of the strut board 20.

The ends of these strut boards have wedge faced ends 23 extending at an angle height wise of the bag to engage abutments 24: upon the units as shown also in dotted lines in Fig. 5.

A form of the nature hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 3 may be made expansible in both directions by means of expanding end pieces of which one is shown in Fig. 6. In this construction the end piece is divided vertically into two halves 2G, 27, connected by two metal bars 28 and 29. The bar 28 (fast to the part 26) lies in a recess cut in the halves of the end piece and has pivoted upon it a handled lever 30 formed around its lower portion as a pinion 31 to engage a rack 32 cut in the bar 29 which is fastened to the part 27 and lies upon the face of the end piece. Two overlying struts 33 provide guideways for the bar 29 and hold the bar 28 in its recess. The two halves 26 and 27 of the end piece may be expanded to fit the work by actuation of the lever and thus forcing the parts to the right and left respectively. The parts may be locked in adjusted position by a pin 34. which can be thrust through a hole 35, in the lever 30, into any one of a series of holes 36 in the bar 28 with which the hole is brought into register.

A thin angle plate 37, shown as attached to the part 26, may be fixed to one of the halves of the end pieces to provide, independently of expansion, :1 continuous rear lower edge and consequent continuous abutment for the sewing operation along this edge.

This construction has been described as an end piece; it may also be employed if desired for the side pieces of a form and it will be understood that a device as shown in Fig. (i lends itself to use with side pieces of dillerent lengths to deal with dilici'cnt. sizes of bags of a range.

\Vhile for larger bags in which the lid and body are completed separately and the body is not only of considerably groan-r depth than the lid but the units 18 have to be iJtLlJBl'Btl SOlIlt-Hl'lltlt near their top edges as shown in Fig. 5 to conform to the tapered structure usually given to the ineuths of such bags to facilitate the closing down oi' the lid, and in which these units have to be of less depth than the bag (as also shown in 5) to allow of their being placed in position under the iron frame 325 which generally runs around the mouth of the bag, it is preferable to have distinct adjustable forms for the lid and the bag respectively, yet for smaller bags such as small attache cases in which the lid and body are completed while joined together the same form Korean! may-be used for the sewingof (both parts by making, asshown 1 in Fig. 7, those boards 38'of the 'fOlnrWhiCh run 'along the ends-of the bag somewhat'widerthan the-depth of the bag and providing thereon a thinhead:

39 projecting over the top edge of the end pieces 40 of the body of-the lmgioyan amount slightly greater than the thickness of the material of the endapieces so: that, in

tion- (containing the form) this head nlay snugly enter the corner formed by theend and top of-the lid and rigidly support these portions incorrect relation 'at the very corner. A similar result may *be securedliby the construction shown in Fig. 8. In 'this case short studs :25am provided on the 'top of the end pieces -38 of *the form .in order to position a 'thin strip o f inetal tifi ofright angle cross section placed along the top of the end pieces so that 'one portion of the strip is seated thereon, 'the studs 42 entering appropria' te holes inthis portion, and the portion 4:4 perpendicular thereto extends between the end portion 45 0f the lid and the end portion 4-0'of the body, and being of width equal to the width of the "endportion 'ofthe did and of a length equal to aha-t of this portion of the lid not only positions relatively the top and end'of the lid butthe'e'ndsof the end of the lid and "the ends the frontand back ofthe l id. H

The- :bag I to be sewn with the -'forn1-expanded in it is preferably sewn on a machine (as i-l lustrated *inJFig, '1) of the well-known construction fused in "the stitching of outsoles of boots and shoes andfea tures "of the construction of which are described in the s ecificationofUnited-States Letters Patent 1 0. 473,870, dated April 26,- To "fit "the machine for this work the- 1892. thread lock and? the devices which vary the length of th-read -supplied" inr accordance with i the variationnnthlck-ness of the work "are're moved so that the "lHl'OhlHQ operates with the tension device controlling stitch-setting and thread supply.

A t the se wing pointa worleguide or support- 1 is provided which is formed of a plate having two plane'surfaoes"21 and 3. Theportrons 0f the work- SUPPOY U'PI'OVldUCl oscillation of the needle somewhat -lESS fll'flIl The edge the l radius of the latter, the surfaces being perpendicular the one to the other and usually 1113 50111945 -to 'thewhorizo'ntal. lhe

feed:)-t-han it is wide, being, say, some five or SIX inches long and hardly more th-an surface S is much longer (along-theline of two 'inches, if that, in width, so as to give" ample support against tipping of the work about a'nwaxis 'extendmgf l'OlIi front to hack of the machine and-also (by avoiding undue width) render practicable the sewing of work which within some two inches of the edge vhas some projecting fitting.

In each surface of the support there is formed a slot lto allow of'the passage of-the awl and needle, 4 denoting the slot in the upper surface of the support and 5 that in the lower; These slots-are inade just wide enough to'allow of the maximum feed by the awl of the work, the awl perforating the work towardst he rig-ht side'of the slots into the Tower of which it enters first, and the plane of 'operationof-the needle lying to the extreme left of the slots. The needle enters by the-slotd and ein'ergesyto have the needle thread looped on it, by the lower slot 5. As will be seenwby reference to Fig. 9 which shows another "work support of similar general type 'on a larger scale the slot 4 is preferably wider at its le'ftside than at its ri ght; this"- is due to the needles passing through the support in such a way as to require greater clearance than the awl in this :particular opening of the support. The slots extend no further towards the said common edge thanis just necessary to allow the needle and awl to-ope'rate through the plate in the various conditions-of adji'istnient of the p'lat'e likelyto be requisite, it being desirable to "leave between the slots as wide-an angu lar channel of-Ineta-l as is practicable so tha't at thepoints where the needle and aw l enter and leave the work each surface of the work may be furnished with an abutment surface on the plate atall sides of the path of the needle or awl. This reduces the likelihood of unsatisfactory l'fiSllltS being obtained'through the material o f the bagbeing forced or pulled away -'fron1--the form by the tool passing int-o'it.

The worksupportshown in Fig. 1 is suitable %for initred edge work, that is where the abutting edges'of the bag sides and ends'are each bevelled off to about 45; for solid edged work, however, that is. work in which, as hereinbeforeindicated, the "edge of the bag ends abuts perpendicularly against the inner surface of-thesheet forming the bag sides, a work support'of the forinshown in Figs. 9,10 and l'ltmay he used, in which the surface of'the lower and larger portion 3 of the work support has a shallow groove 6 milled to allow the work to be seated firmly on-the support even should the materialsthereof at their abutting edges be somewhatrough or irregular or, cut slightly on the bias, it is convenient to form that section of the groove which extends beyond the sewing point considered along the line of feed somewhat wider than the other portion since it is desirable that neither portion should be wider than is absolutely necessary and the setting of the stitches tends to throw up a bead or bulge at the margin of the sheets of the workpiece by pinching these materials together just a little distance from the free edges.

In addition, the actual stitching itself usually projects slightly from the surface of the work, and this groove avoids marring of the surface of the thread on the work after passing the-sewing point.

This form of work support also enables the bodies of attach cases and similar articles which have the top or top and back portions of the lid in one piece with the bottom and back of the body of the bag to be sewn, clearance being provided for the increase in width of this sheet at that portion of it where from forming the back of the bag it changes its function to become the back of the lid or the top of the lid. operation of sewing the bag body will start at that corner of the bag end adjacent the lid as one end of the article is being sewn and will stop at the similar corner when the other end is being sewn. In the former case the edge of the lid top or lid back is accommodated in the recess 7 to the left of the needle for the first few stitches, passing out to the left as the sewing proceeds; in the latter case as the last few stitches are being put in, the lid top or lid back enters the recess 8 to the right of the needle it being understood that the lid end-pieces are not present at this stage. the work support is continued into the angle at the projection 9 between the recesses to provide a solid abutment for the work to be held against during the whole of the sewing operation.

To provide for adjustments a work supporting plate either of the form shown in Fig. 1 or of that shown in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 may be conveniently supported on the ma chine by a bracket fastened to the under side of that portion of the frame in which the shuttle is mounted in a machine according to the specification above mentioned and at the place thereon where in boot and shoe sewing the work table is mounted. This bracket 50 is fastened to the frame by screws passing through slots 51 in it to allow of forward and rearward adjustment along the plane of the surface 3 and also has two further slots 52, 53 by which screws 5 L connect it to a slotted lug 55 upon the lower plane of the work support so that adjustment may be effected in the plane of the surface 2 and also (by virtue of the crossing slots in the The upper surface of parts 50, 55) about a horizontal axis parallel to the feed line. Additional support is provided by an arm 56 on the left side of the plate which is clamped to the frame by that bolt which in boot and shoe Work is the pivot for the presser foot lever and in this case passes through an enlarged opening in the arm.

This arrangement also allows of adjustment of the work support horizontally forwardly and backwardly relatively to the needle and awl centre so that the distance of the stitching as a whole from the extreme edge of the work may be set as desired. By tilting the support about a horizontal axis, as is permitted by the adjusting means, the relative distances of the stitching from the work edge on the two external faces of the work, that is, the angle of the stitching through the work, can be readily varied.

In some classes of work it has been found that if the awl and needle are set and operated in the usual manner, that burring is apt to be produced by the pushing up or out by the awl of'small portions of the material of the article being sewn, and the penetration of the needle, through from the opposite side to that of the awl, does not always remedy such displacement, an inferior appearance of work then resulting. To avoid such a difliculty, the awl may be shortened so as to complete its piercing of the work just short of the further surface thereof, and the needle may be sharpened so as easily to pierce the small remaining thickness of the work and then to traverse the awl hole.

An adjustable auxiliary support for the work is preferably provided and conveniently this is connected to the machine column; as shown in Figs. 12 and 13 it may be similar in general form to that located plane of the needle bisects the length of each support.

The auxiliary support will usually require no adjustment in the course of the sewing operations on a body portion or lid where these are separately sewn (as the article is usually sewn only along a margin at all its parts equidistant from the margin resting on the angular plate 60) but will require adjustment when the angular position of the support at the sewing point is varied and as :the work ,dimensions are changed. .Fonthis:

supporting surfaces leach lug being connected .to a correspondingibari-62, extending fronr the machine column, by a clamping .bolt,63 passing through the slot in the lug and a slot inthe bar.

In some classes ofiwork where the weight of the articlesisewnrisnot great the auxiliary support may be merely a plane surface aligned with the plane of the portion 2 of the sewing point work support, and in such case may take the form of a board mounted upon a column and adapted to be raised and lowered and also to be turned about a horizontal axis and be duly locked in adjusted position on the column.

The sewing machine is preferably provided with a clutch adapted to stop the machine invariably at the same point in its cycle of operations, that is to say with the needle and awl both clear of the work as shown in Fig. 1. This is desirable, as at the beginning and end of the seam at the corners of the body and lid of the bag it is customary to form a double stitch which requires that the operator, if he is to do the same thing by machine, shall frequently stop the machine to reposition the work for the repetition of the stitch so that the awl shall enter once more a hole just previously made by it. As the article may be heavy or awkward to hold with one hand only, it is undesirable that he should have to use one of his hands to turn the hand wheel of the machine to free the work from the awl or needle for the repositioning, and, moreover, time is lost as his attention is diverted from the mere repositioning of the work. Again, should the machine stop with the needle or awl in the work, a serious strain might come upon one or other of these tools if the operator letting go of a heavy bag with one hand to rotate the mainshaft with that hand lost control of the work and its weight came suddenly upon the tool. A convenient clutch for this purpose is that described in the specification7 of British Letters Patent No. 720C of 190 l A clutch of this type is shown in Fig. 1 the pendant lever R being oscillated by the swash ring described in that specification while the clutch is engaged, and being stopped to disengage the clutch at a. definite spot in its oscillation through the toggle members R and R following release by the operator of the pedal connected to the rod R The nature and scope of the invention having been indicated and apparatus embodying the several features of the invention in their preferred form having been specifically de scribed, what is claimed is:

1. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar 1 articles having, in eoomb fiign, xstitch-forming devicesincluding a curved hook needle, andanwork supportcomprising a abutments rigidly and, immovably secu ed. I

,each other and; provided with plane rigid,

work supporting surfaces substantiallytat right angles to each: other andAextending in the direction of fee-d arranged to position 1 the corner formedbya side and end of a bag inthe path ofithe. needle.

241A. machine for: sewing leath r bag f similar articles having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising abutments rigidly and immovably secured to each other and provided with surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed to support externally the side and end of a bag and an expansible form supporting internally the side and end of the bag and cooperatingwith said surfaces to position the corner formed by the side and end of the bag in the path of the needle.

3. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising rigidly connected abutments rigidly and immovably secured to each other provided with work supporting surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed, and means permitting an angular adjustment of the work support to vary the angle of the stitching through the work.

4. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising rigidly connected abutments rigidly and immovably secured to each other provided with work supporting surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed, and means permitting an adjustment of the work support to vary the distance of the stitching as a whole from the extreme edge of the work.

5. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising rigidly connected abutments rigidly and immovably secured to each other provided with work supporting surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed, and means permitting an adjustment of the work support to vary the relative distances of the stitching from the edge on the two external surfaces of the work.

6. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles having, in combination, stitch-for1ning devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising rigidly connected abutments provided with Work supporting surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed, and also provided with a needle opening and with a lid-receiving recess at each side of the needle opening to permit sewing of the body with the lid portion in place thereon.

7. A machine for sewing leather bags or similar articles having, in combination, stitch-forming devices including a curved hook needle, a work support comprising rigidly connected abutments provided with Work supporting surfaces substantially at right angles to each other and extending in the direction of feed, and also provided with a groove to receive the edge portion of the Work.

ROBERT GOW REID. ARTHUR BATES. FRED HICKS. 

